Blood-line
by nanashiX
Summary: It is blood that runs through our veins. It is blood that keeps us alive. It is blood that signifies relationships. Naruto is given a gift that will alter his path as a ninja. With it will his road become easier or will it lay down a road of ruin. A Hiraishin story with a twist. No real pairings set up. Rated T for blood. Not yaoi. Cover art wanted. Changed rating.
1. Blood Born

**AN: Well as stated in my other works this is one of the new stories that I wrote during my unwarranted hiatus. There was a lot going on but this is one of the stories that I worked on a lot. There are a few chapters pre-written and I hope you all like a new twist to an otherwise cliché idea. I'm going to be doing things quite differently though. So anyways I hope you like it everyone.**

_**Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto or any anime or manga reference. I own this plot and the idea. **_

**Xxx**

**Chapter 1: Blood born **

It is blood that runs through our veins. It is blood that keeps us alive. It is blood that signifies relationships. And it is blood that was _leaking_ from the many wounds that Minato was suffering. The masked man that he was fighting had made sure Minato received no rest as the Kyuubi no Kitsune roared behind this masked assailant. Behind the Hokage was Kushina, his beautiful wife with her crimson hair wild and untamed.

His wife was holding a bundle close to her as she cried, the son she would never watch grow. Minato also shed tears. Tears that stung his face as they washed over the small cuts he had taken.

"You have taken control of the Bijuu from me," the man before Minato said accusingly. "I wish I could stay more but I'd rather the Kyuubi's ire be aimed at you instead of me. For now this is good bye." And with that said the man disappeared in a swirl of time and space. Minato bit back a curse as the Kyuubi trained its eyes on the young couple beneath it. With a mighty roar it stalked towards Minato with a vicious snarl.

"There is only one thing I can do Minato. I have to bring him back into the seal," Minato heard Kushina say as she held the baby out to her husband. The blonde man looked at his shaking wife and smiled sadly.

"I can't let you do that my love. You're at death's door. There is no way you'd be able to bring the beast back into your seal without you dying. And if you die with the Kyuubi still inside you then it will only reform again later. I can't bear the thought of losing you Kushina," Minato said somberly. Kushina faltered and thought for a moment. When Minato took their baby from her hands she slowly started to realize what her husband was doing.

"No. No, no, no Minato. You can't do this," the once feared and mighty Hot Blooded Habanero could do nothing, her chakra was almost depleted and her body was ragged. Minato wasn't faring any better but he still could do what he needed to do. Carefully scripting the basic seal onto his son he placed him softly on the ground while his wife watched in deep sadness.

"You can't do this. He needs you Minato."

"He needs his mother," Minato cut off as he flew through hand seals.

"B-but, he's 'our' son. He needs us both. If I do this there is chance I can survive. If you do what you are going to do there is a _hundred_ percent chance you're going to die!" Kushina screamed out. Minato continued to smile sadly as he finished his sequence.

"There is nothing we can do I have to-," Minato was cut off as he heard a whistling sound. Turning around he was horrified to see a giant claw fly towards him. 'No I'm not done yet!'

_Clang! _

_Schlick!_

Kushina gasped as her chakra chains redirected Kyuubi's claw so instead of piercing through her and Minato's stomach it went through their shoulders. Minato bit back a gasp and continued his seals.

"We may die together after this my love," the Hokage whispered over his shoulder. Kushina replied with dry laugh.

"And leave my poor son alone? If I live through this I'm pulling your sorry ass from Shinigami's stomach." Minato chuckled wryly and placed his hands on his son's stomach. Instantly the infants eyes opened revealing sapphire eyes similar to his own. The boy started to cry loudly as a seal slowly started to appear on his navel.

"I won't leave you alone my son. And neither will your mom," Minato whispered as his technique started to take effect and the Shinigami appeared. "I'll put into you my last bit of chakra if you ever need it and your mom's too. We will never leave you," tears started to fall down the man's face. The tears dripped down his cheek mixing with the blood on his face. They fell slowly into the crying baby's mouth and oddly enough the child stopped crying as a copious amount of tears fell in him. Minato wiped his eyes and pushed his and Kushina's chakra into their son's seal.

The Kyuubi roared and its Yin chakra was forcefully ripped from its Yang chakra and eaten by the Shinigami. Its Yang chakra on the other hand was sealed into the baby and the giant fox demon disappeared. Kushina preceded to collapse and with the last of his strength, Minato pulled his family together in a final embrace.

"Will he be okay," Kushina whispered as darkness started to take her.

"Of course. He is our son after all," Minato replied before kissing his wife and then his son.

"We love you so much."

"Make us proud," the baby looked into the eyes of his parents and cooed while bringing his hands up.

"Naruto…"

Xxx

_5 Years After_

A scruffy looking Naruto dug through a dumpster. A pair of legs flapped back and forth over the side. A shout of glee echoed from the waste bin and the little boy plopped out with a half-eaten sandwich. Grinning to himself the blonde scarfed it up with gusto.

Naruto burped with satisfaction and walked back from the alley he had been scrounging in. He had no desire to go back to the Orphanage yet. It was boring and most of the caretakers would force him to be clean. The blonde would later learn as he grew that these were what were called mother hens and he should appreciate them. Deciding to go to the park Naruto scampered off with a smile.

The boy arrived at the park and grinned. There were a few kids today but it was mostly empty. Which means Naruto wouldn't have to suffer the scathing glares and shoos from many parents. The blonde was content to play on his own. As he played in the sand box Naruto saw something shiny. Curious, he reached out and yelped when he cut his finger. Gingerly he reached in with his other hand and pulled out a piece broken glass. Naruto frowned and walked to the trashcan before depositing it inside. Even he knew that broken glass wasn't meant in a children's playground. Looking at the small cut he watched as it healed over almost instantly. This wasn't an odd occurrence to the boy apparently. Nodding to himself he started to walk back to the sandbox.

As he walked Naruto noticed the world slowly start to dim. Colors lost their sheen and looked dull in comparison. The world around him stopped. There were no birds chirping, no sounds of the other kids talking, or the natural wind blowing through trees. It was silent. The boy did however notice a few red lines that extended from his body and ran from him farther than he could see. There weren't many lines, maybe ten or twelve but they ran in front and behind Naruto. After looking back and forth for a moment the red lines disappeared and the world started moving again. Naruto scratched his head before shrugging and heading back to the sandbox.

_10 Years After_

The Academy was where all young aspiring shinobi and kunoichi started their journey. It taught young ninja the basics and the history of what a ninja is. One would normally start at the age of seven then spend a required five years before taking a test to graduate to the rank of Genin. The Genin was the lowest rank of an official ninja and the highest on the totem pole. One needed to work down to reach the point of the base where the elites were. That was why they were the bottom of the totem pole, because they were strong enough to carry the weaker ones. At the very bottom, holding up everyone was the Kage of the village, the strongest in the village.

Naruto strived to be a ninja. Ever since the old Hokage had talked about how he protected the village from harm and how everyone looked up to him, the blonde boy knew that was what he wanted. Living a life of barely anyone caring about him had made him strive for attention. Once he reached seven he was given his own apartment and enrolled into the Academy. Even now the boy missed the women at the Orphanage. He wished he didn't take their nitpicking for granted.

After two years Naruto had decided to try and take the test to graduate believing he was ready. There wasn't a rule that you couldn't try early, it's just no one had really thought about trying early. Naruto had failed miserably. The _Henge no jutsu_ was the test and he didn't understand chakra to the extent that the real graduates did at that time.

So here he was, ten years old and hoping to try again next year with the graduates of that grade. He had practiced the Henge as much as possible and even started learning the basics of the _Kawarimi no jutsu_. It was still out of his reach but he was getting there. At the moment he was lobbing shuriken and kunai at a target to practice his marksmanship. It wasn't going too well. He still didn't have the eye for throwing weapons, unlike a girl with buns who he had seen hit every bulls-eye.

The blonde was getting frustrated. He couldn't for the life of him get any closer. It was irking. Taking a deep breath Naruto hurled a trio of shuriken that were between his fingers. A low hum was heard as the four pointed stars curved and flew at the wooden board. With a loud _'thunk'_ each shuriken stuck into a different place. Naruto rushed to the target with an excited grin. He felt good with the throw.

When he got to the board he saw two of them were outside the target and one was barely in. Naruto sweat dropped.

"Dammit!" Growling in frustration the boy grabbed each weapon roughly. Shouting in pain, Naruto looked at the shuriken and the cut it gave him on his palm. He cursed and threw it at a tree a few yards away from him and it stuck there. Naruto was suddenly aware that the world around him had frozen. Colors lost their brightness and there wasn't a sound to be heard. He blinked in confusion and looked down as he saw red lines flowing away from him. It looked like whatever the red lines were, they were moving. The boy abruptly realized that this was the same scenario that had happened many years ago. And he also realized that there were almost twice as many lines as back then. He leaned down and took a good look at a line that led from him, to strangely enough, the shuriken stuck in the tree. It was the shortest line that Naruto could see being that the rest extended further than his vision allowed.

Extending a shaky hand to the line that led to the shuriken, Naruto became aware that what was extending from him looked extremely familiar. Before he could ponder more his finger touched the line. Suddenly, Naruto felt like the world had folded in on itself almost like it bent making his shuriken closer. While this happened he was simultaneously pulled down the line and felt like he was squished for a moment before he felt normal. And that's when the world started again. Color seemed to bleed back, sound slowly started again as if it was coming out of slow motion from a tape recorder that he remembered on the Holage's desk, and Naruto was jolted from the strange squished feeling.

The boy blinked once, then twice and turned his head. He could have sworn he was next to the target board. Now he was next to his shuriken, his hand actually on it. He grabbed the weapon and placed it in his training pouch. They were practice shuriken and kunai, sharp but not overly so, so they needed to be returned. Spinning around warily, Naruto tried to find the reason for his strange transportation. Finding no reason the boy shrugged and packed up. Maybe he was just dehydrated.

_12 Years After_

Naruto cried. Tears flowed down his face as he jumped from branch to branch. It all made sense now. Why everyone hated him. In all honesty he had thought it was because he could see blood flowing from his body. He thought people had thought that he was creepy and tried not to make it so that he would see those lines that flowed from him that he had classified as blood. It was hard though. The world would stop suddenly at times and the lines would flow from him. Sometimes the amount would lessen and sometimes there would be more. He never could understand why. All he knew was that he should never touch the lines or people would think he was even weirder.

But now Naruto knew it wasn't cause of those "blood lines". No now he knew it was because of the damn Kyuubi no Kitsune. The nine tailed fox demon that had practically destroyed Konoha twelve years ago was sealed inside him. And it was the reason most people ignored and practically tried their best to believe he didn't exist.

"I was supposed to be Hokage. I thought I could be somebody," Naruto cried as he stopped on a branch to rest. Behind him he heard the sound of rustling and he quickly hid. Turning slightly, the blonde watched as Iruka, his sensei in his Academy, appear in a puff of smoke from his transformation to look like Naruto. It seemed Mizuki had tried to trick the boy by transforming as Iruka but the scarred man was one step ahead. Naruto listened in shock as Iruka defended his wayward student. And he cried at Iruka's last statement.

"Naruto is nothing like the Kyuubi. He is more human than any of us," Iruka shouted. "Hell he is more human than you Mizuki-teme." Mizuki growled and pulled one of the large shuriken from his back.

"Big talk from a dead man. Looks like I'll be killing you first before I kill that demon," snarled Mizuki before grinning. "Any last words?" The large shuriken started to spin around the man's hand with a small application of chakra.

"Fuck you..." Iruka lifted his middle finger in the air as he held his sides. Naruto turned from his hiding spot and looked in horror. Iruka-sensei was too injured to move. He was too far from both of them to run and help. He needed to help his sensei. He needed to help one of the few people that thought of him as a person. Reaching into his thigh pouch Naruto cut his thumb and swiped his blood on a shuriken quickly before flinging it at Mizuki as the man started to move. Naruto had never consciously called upon the blood lines that stopped the world, but now was as good a time as any. Pulsing his chakra and focusing on the feeling of freezing the world around him Naruto was extremely relieved to see the familiar silent and dull overtone. Naruto quickly grabbed onto the line leading to the shuriken and waited.

"Famous last words Iruka! Now die you demon lov-!" Mizuki's scream was cut off as a lone shuriken flew towards him. Scoffing he was about knock it away when something extraordinary happened. Something that made all occupants that were watching, this including Iruka, Mizuki, and Sarutobi, shocked beyond belief. In a haze of red that disappeared in a second Naruto appeared and grabbed the shuriken before spinning and landing a back roundhouse kick to Mizuki's face.

"Touch my sensei again," Naruto started as he held his shuriken between his fingers, "and I'll kick your ass!" Mizuki stood up shocked beyond recognition. "Too stupid to speak up? Well let me pay you back for what you did to sensei a thousand food!" Naruto placed his hands in a seal that made a cross with his pointer and middle fingers before shouting. Mizuki nearly had a heart attack.

"_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!_"

"Shit..."

Xxx

Naruto sat before the Hokage and swung his legs back and forth. He was still a bit too small to reach the floor comfortably in the big, plushy chair which annoyed him greatly. Before him stood Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. He was like a grandfather to the blonde and had taken great care of the boy as much as he could. He had made sure no physical harm had come to the boy from any of the..._spirited_ villagers and their grudges. Sadly the only thing the Sandaime couldn't do was force everyone to acknowledge Naruto.

But at the moment Sarutobi had a more pressing matter to attend to. He had watched the proceedings that had taken place and had made sure that his Anbu were a good distance away. Luckily the Anbu hadn't seen what he saw due to him not giving them the signal to proceed, but he had seen and that's what mattered. "Well it seems like you had an eventful night Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned and scratched his head.

"I will allow you to stay a Genin through field promotion," Sarutobi said making Naruto smile brightly. "And you are even allowed the use of the jutsus you were able to learn, seeing as how it would help your bunshin problem." Naruto whooped in joy and bounced off the chair and ran around to hug the old man.

"Thank you so much Ojii-san!" Sarutobi smiled warmly as he hugged the boy back. It was good to see him with a true smile. It was hard to tell when the boy donned the guarded smile and when it was real. Unfortunately there were things he and Naruto needed to discuss so with a heavy sigh Sarutobi pushed the small boy away and looked at him seriously.

"Now as you can probably tell, I was watching what happened between you and Mizuki."

"Oh with that weird crystal ball thing that you do. Huh I was wondering how you always knew where I was," Naruto thought aloud.

"Naruto I need ask you a very important question," the boy tilted his head. "What did you do to get close to Mizuki? What was that strange technique?" Naruto looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh you mean that nifty little move here and there thing. Yeah um it's a bit weird actually," Naruto said as he walked back to the cushy seat.

"Well go on. We have all night my boy," and Naruto went from the beginning. From when he was five years old and he saw the lines of blood when he cut his hand on a piece of glass. From how he had moved from one point to another when he was ten, and after that moment how there would be times when it would happen randomly when he was working with his chakra. The story came to a close when Naruto told the Sandaime how he had needed to protect Iruka and had used it consciously. By the end the old Hokage sat with his fingers steepled and a contemplative look on his face.

"Jii-san..." Naruto started. "I'm not really the fox am I?" Sarutobi flinched visibly and frowned. Naruto was still a bit shaken up by everything so he needed to tread carefully with what he was about to do. Too many things needed to be said tonight.

"No Naruto-kun. You are in no way the Kyuubi. You are your own person. It is merely sealed in you. I know this because I've watched you grow from just a baby. You are without a doubt Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto smiled brightly and could feel tears prick his eyes before he wiped them away. He had cried too much already tonight. "But can you do me a favor?"

"Of course anything Jii-san!"

"Can you use that technique once more for me? Right now?" Naruto shrugged and reached into his thigh pouch before pulling out a shuriken and pricking his thumb. With a deft flick the boy sent the ninja star flying lazily forward so it hit behind the Hokage. Sarutobi lifted his eyebrow at Naruto's choice to where to throw the weapon before his eyebrows shot up as the boy disappeared in a haze of red. The old man instantly sensed the boy behind him not even a second later and turned to see Naruto pulling his shuriken out of the wall. That movement was instantaneous. Instantaneous and familiar. Too familiar.

"Naruto...you just teleported." Naruto blinked.

"Like how those ninjas do when they are gone in those puffs of smoke?"

"No my boy you teleported. And it was instant."

"Whoa! Serious?! So that's what those blood lines do? Huh I wonder what would happen if I grab onto another one?"

"Why don't you try it?"

"Huh?"

"Why don't you try it? And if you can, try and zero in on the shuriken that you used before to come back here." Naruto scratched his head before shrugging and placing the previously used ninja star on the Hokage's table. If Hiruzen was right then this boy had the ability to do something unheard of. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and he was suddenly gone in the haze of red that was becoming customary. The Sandaime waited for a few seconds and was thinking something went wrong when he had counted to fifteen. Suddenly Naruto appeared in the room with his hand on the shuriken with a red mist dissipating behind him.

"Sorry bout the wait Jii-jii. It took a few jumps but I finally figured out which one was which. But I did find out that some of the places that the lines led to were a bunch of places that'd I been to!" Naruto placed a finger to his chin and squinted his eyes. "In fact those are places where I either fell or hurt myself. I didn't test them all so who knows."

"Did those injuries cause blood?"

"Mhmm."

Hiruzen sighed and stood up before walking to the wall where the pictures of all the Hokages were put up. He stopped in front of the Yondaime and stared at it.

"Naruto do you know about the Yondaime?"

"Oh yeah! Of course he was one of my favorite things to study in history because it wasn't so boring!" Naruto started. "He became Hokage at a really young age, he fought in the Third Great War. He was given the SS-Class rating for his hand in completely kicking ass in a battle," Hiruzen smiled at the childish way Naruto described that particular event. Kicking ass would be an appropriate way to put it. "And he defeated the Kyuubi!" Naruto's face dropped after that last statement and his mood instantly turned somber. "Or more like sealed it in me..."

"Naruto, before I continue I must ask do you know what the jutsu was that earned the Yondaime the title _Kiroi Senkou_?" Naruto thought for a second knowing he heard of it in class.

"The _Haishin no jutsu_ or something?"

"Close. The _Hiraishin no jutsu_, and do you know what it did?"

"Yeah it teleported," Naruto answered. Sarutobi turned and gave Naruto a pointed look. The boy looked blankly at the old man before his face morphed into one of understanding. "He teleported...he..teleported. I teleported...I teleported! What the hell! I can do that Hiraishin thing!" Naruto screamed out.

Sarutobi chuckled softly and walked over to calm the boy down. "No my boy you didn't use the Hiraishin no jutsu. You did however use something like it. And that is where things get a bit, hmm, difficult to explain," the Sandaime said as he walked Naruto to the window. Naruto looked up at the man confused as he stood silently for a moment.

"Naruto, Minato, the Yondaime, sealed the Kyuubi into you because of the situation," Naruto opened his mouth to ask a question but Hiruzen set a gentle hand down to tell the boy to be patient. "Unfortunately I can't give you the full situation, but I can tell you this. He as a parent couldn't ask another to sacrifice their child. He was a father himself."

Naruto slowly let the Hokage's words sink in and looked up in astonishment. "You mean?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Namikaze Minato was your father. I don't understand the specifics but it seems you have gained the ability to use some sort of variation of his famous technique. Perhaps you have a kekkei genkai."

Naruto was shocked to the core. So many things were dropped onto his lap at once today. It was unnerving. On one hand he couldn't help but hate what the Yondaime, no his father, did to him. He understood that it was for the village but why him? It hurt to think of what could have been. On the other hand he had gained something of his father's. A technique that may only be his and his alone. And it seemed that it was immensely powerful. But it was a technique given to him by a man who had effectively cursed him. Grasping his head the boy leaned into the Hokage surprising the man.

"Ojii-san... I am thankful that I know my dad but I just don't know what to think. I am happy, so happy, that I know who he is and that he is so amazing but I can't help but to hate what he did. I know that you might want me to use this technique but I don't know if I can. It makes me feel connected to the guy that ruined my life and, and," as Naruto went on Sarutobi came to realize what was bothering the boy.

Naruto was still a boy. He didn't understand the inner working of the world and how things had turned out. Yes, the boy was happy to have such an amazing technique, but all it does is remind the boy of a father that was never there. Naruto was happy but felt abandoned at the same time. That was when the Sandaime came to a decision. Leading the boy to the chair, the Hokage took his own. Naruto just wanted to be told what to do at the moment and Sarutobi would try to find a compromise.

"Naruto I will make you a deal, sort of an order from the Hokage. I decree that you are to never use this move unless your life or your comrade's life is in danger. However, from this day on you are to meet with me every Sunday if possible and we will train and learn more about your supposed bloodline." Naruto looked relieved. He wanted to use this move but at the same time didn't. "This will be a decree between you and me and will hold for as long as I live, understand Naruto?" The Sandaime asked as he wrote down everything on a small scroll.

"Yeah I got it Jii-jii," Naruto smiled. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Hey Jii-san," Sarutobi looked up. "What about...what about my mom?" Naruto asked hopefully. A look of sadness and guilt flashed through the old man's eyes before he covered it up and shook his head.

"I'm sorry Naruto I don't know. I can't tell you anything right now." Naruto merely sighed and shrugged. Well he couldn't get all the answers tonight. Unbeknownst to him Sarutobi had clenched his hands for a moment to stem off a great wave of guilt. Shaking it off, the Hokage grabbed another scroll and a thinner brush before looking up.

"Now we have some other business to discuss. What should we name your new found bloodline?"

"Hmm," Naruto thought and scrunched up his face making his eyes resemble a fox's. He wanted to name it something cool like 'Super Hyper Teleport' but that seemed silly now that he thought about it. After thinking of the qualities of his bloodline the blonde grinned. "Call it Blood-line."

The Hokage lifted an eyebrow. "You want to call your bloodline, bloodline?"

"Well it's Blood," Naruto made a line in the air to show a dash, "line." The Hokage shrugged and wrote it on the scroll.

"From this day forth you are the wielder of the bloodline, Blood-line."

Xxx

Naruto stood in front of two freshly made graves. One was for one of Kiri's legendary Seven Swordsman, Momoichi Zabuza. He had been one of the strongest people Naruto had ever met. When he had first shown up, Naruto had been scared beyond belief. But his sensei, the legendary Hatake Kakashi or better known as the Copy Ninja, had assured them that he would protect them. Looking back on that fight Naruto couldn't help but think about how he and his teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, had used an amazing show of teamwork to free their sensei from a jutsu that Zabuza had used.

After Zabuza was defeated by Kakashi they had finally brought Tazuna to Nami. That's when things got difficult. It was on the bridge that was to save the people of Nami that Naruto wished he did something different. Naruto looked to the other grave and touched the blank face mask that Haku had used. Haku, a person with such a pure heart, had died protecting a person. Naruto still didn't know if Haku was really a boy or a girl pretending to say they were a boy but dressed like a girl still.

But for Naruto it was during this fight that he had messed up. Haku had been such a pure soul. Naruto knew without a doubt if Haku and he had met in different circumstances they would have been amazing friends. If only things had gone different. If only he had tried his hardest. If only the Kyuubi's chakra hadn't sprung out and clouded his mind. Naruto clenched his fist.

'I should have used Blood-line...'

Xxx

Deep in the Forest of Death Naruto rampaged. A shroud of red chakra surrounded the boy like a fine mist. He smashed a giant snake in its snout and sent it careening back with a screech. As this went on a man with an extraordinarily pale face and shining yellow eyes watched with a smile.

Naruto kicked the snake while it was down eliciting another screech before the boy looked up. In a burst of speed he blurred forward and appeared on a branch in front of the man. Roaring, the boy tried to swipe at the man only for him to nimbly dodge.

"Really now Naruto-kun is this all you have?" The man goaded. Naruto growled lowly and used his elongated claws to try and impale the pale man. While Naruto and the man battled, below them Sasuke and Sakura watched in a mix of fear and awe. They had never seen Naruto this powerful...or angry! However, even with Naruto's new animalistic fighting style it was nothing compared to the man's. With strikes faster than the Genin could see, Naruto was sent careening into a tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed in worry. The boy let out a bark of pain that was immediately cut off with the sound of his choking. The man smirked around the elongated tongue that was wrapped around the blonde's neck and pulled Naruto closer.

"So you're the Kyuubi host I see?" The man said making the boy's eyes widen. "You have potential but you're still weak. You'll need much more to come at me."

"**Who the fuck are you**," Naruto growled as he started to think coherently.

"You may call me Orochimaru. But for now I need you out of the way," as Orochimaru said that he brought one hand up while the other lifted Naruto's shirt. Each finger tip glowed with a sick purple chakra and the man slammed it into Naruto's stomach.

The boy screamed as he felt white hot agony and felt consciousness leave him as the haze of Kyuubi's malevolent chakra left his mind. His one final and clear thought was, 'I should have used Blood-line...'

Xxx

Naruto stood on a branch huffing. In front of him stood one of the strongest opponents he had ever faced. What was once a short, red haired boy named Gaara now stood a monstrous looking tanuki-human hybrid. Gaara's upper body was covered with sand taking the form of demonic looking tanuki while only the lower portion of his legs were normal. A long tail made of sand swung back and forth as the deranged boy laughed crazily.

Beside Naruto was Sasuke whose body was covered in strange black marks. Naruto was slightly confused but had bigger issues. Sakura was being crushed by sand that was trapping her to a tree which infuriated the blonde boy. Naruto was tired and had already tried summoning. All he was able to get was Gamakichi who was hiding next to Kakashi's summon Pakkun higher up.

"Naruto," said boy looked to his teammate. Sasuke pushed himself up and held his shoulder. "I'm going to try to use Chidori again. Hopefully I will be able to hit him hard enough so he will let Sakura go. When that happens...when that happens take her and run." Naruto looked at the other boy in shock. Sasuke had always been a bit cold but as time went by it seemed like the boy had changed. Team seven had spent more time together and it looked like all that interaction had helped Sasuke.

"**Come on now!**" Gaara screamed out with a sharp laugh. "**Is this all you have?!**" Naruto growled and readied himself, but the red haired boy's next words shook him. Gaara pointed at Naruto, "**what's wrong Uzumaki?! This isn't everything. Where is that power you used to defeat that Hyuuga?**"

"Shut up!"

"**Are you hiding it?! That's what you're doing huh! Hiding your power,**" Gaara started cackling. "**Lying to yourself!**"

Naruto closed his eyes tightly and grit his teeth. As much as he hated the other boy right now he was right. These past months Naruto had been hiding his power. In fact he had always been hiding his ability since the day it had first spawned. Ever since Naruto had learned of his father he couldn't help but hate the man a little. And his feelings had made him reluctant to use Blood-line. If he had used it in Wave, maybe things would be different. If he had used it in the Forest of Death, maybe things would be different.

'No more.' Naruto opened his eyes wide and they burned with a new resolve. He couldn't let his childish feelings cloud his mind. This was a life or death situation and the Sandaime said that in a life or death situation, then all bets were off.

There was a snapping sound behind the two boys and they turned to see Gaara's sister, Temari Naruto remembered, walk shakily towards them. Her eyes showed an enormous amount of fear as she said, "you guys can't beat him. It's impossible." The blonde girl pointed to Sakura as she was slowly being crushed. "I mean look! Your teammate is a goner!" Sasuke grunted and rolled his shoulders with a hiss of pain. This was his last shot.

"I'm not going to lose the people close to me ever again," Sasuke whispered. "Get ready dobe," Sasuke started to do handseals but Naruto stopped him.

"Temari right?" The girl nodded. "Is there any way to make it so I can break his concentration so I can free Sakura-chan?" Temari gave the boy an incredulous look.

"He can't be stopped. There is no way to defeat him. The only time I've seen it happen was when that Lee kid smashed Gaara into the ground. But look at him," Gaara's new look was definitely an upgrade, but from what Naruto saw he had given up all his defensive capabilities for power. The blonde could work with that.

"You're right Sasuke-teme," Naruto started making the Uchiha look at him. "I never want to lose anyone either. I've never lost like you, but after everything we've done, after all we have been through I don't ever want you guys to be gone." Naruto looked at Sasuke and grinned. "Team seven is my family and I'll protect you guys no matter what!" Naruto pulled out two shuriken and cut his finger on both before swiping some blood on them. He threw one by his foot and held the other up. "Besides, look at ya. You'd probably keel over if you tried doing anything ya bastard. Leave it to me!"

Sasuke gave the blonde a confused look, "what are you going to do?" Naruto took a deep breath and didn't answer for a moment.

"Don't blink teme." And with that said he launched that lone shuriken at the mini Shuukaku. Gaara blinked in surprise as the metal star flew at him. The shuriken sunk deeply into his chest but couldn't penetrate past the sand that covered him. Gaara was about to growl, thinking that the blonde was wimping out. But what happened next set everyone's jaw, even the small toad and the pug, to the floor. Naruto flickered in front of Gaara in a haze of red and smashed his fist into Gaara's face. The boy was sent flying back but before he could let out even a grunt of pain Naruto was behind him with another punch to the face.

Gaara flew forward actually having a chance to roar out and flew off the branch into the air. Naruto flickered once more and appeared below the other Jinchuriki. Placing his hands in a cross seal Naruto summoned five clones beside him with a yell, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Six blondes shot their feet up and sent Gaara flying.

"_U-ZU-MA-KI!_"

Sasuke looked in complete shock while Temari had dropped to her knees. "H-how is he doing that?"

"I don't know..." Sasuke whispered. Pakkun and Gamakichi dropped down beside Sasuke and looked at the boy.

"Oi Kakashi's brat," Sasuke looked down at Pakkun. "Do you know what the blonde brat is doing?" Sasuke shook his head numbly.

"I'll tell what he's doing! He's kicking ass!" Gamakichi answered while jumping high in excitement. "Go Naruto-nii!"

Naruto and his clones landed on a branch and he sent each one at the rising Gaara. Each one kicked him higher and higher before they dispelled. Using Blood-line once more Naruto flickered above the stunned red head. Gaara only had enough time to realize how high they truly were. They were past the tree tops. Raising his leg high Naruto smashed it upon Gaara in a crushing axe kick that sent him hurtling down.

"_Naruto Rendan!_" Naruto yelled as his foot connected. "I'm not done yet!" The blonde appeared in a red haze above Gaara as he fell and smashed an axe kick once more accelerating the boy's fall. He did this twice more making Gaara rocket down and finally Naruto flickered above the other boy and smashed both feet into the boy's head. Using chakra to stick to Gaara's face the two of them careened to the forest floor so fast that the wind screeched around them.

"Take _this!_" There was a tremor as the two boys hit the ground and Naruto crushed Gaara's head in a vicious double stomp. He flipped off Gaara and disappeared before reappearing on the branch next to Sasuke. Huffing, Naruto looked to see if Sakura was free. To his relief it looked like the beating he gave to the red head had caused him to lose his focus on the sand around the girl.

"D-dobe," Naruto turned to Sasuke panting. "What the hell was that?" Naruto shook his head and grabbed Sakura in a bridal carry before giving her to Sasuke.

"I'll explain later I promise, but right now I need to get you guys safe." And with that said Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke who held Sakura and they vanished leaving behind a red mist.

The trio appeared in Naruto's room and Sasuke looked around in surprise. Taking Sakura from Sasuke, Naruto set her on his bed before turning to a still shell shocked Uchiha.

"Look I know you have questions, and I promise I'll answer them but right now I have to go back," Naruto said quickly.

"Wait why am I here then?"

"Man, you are almost completely wiped out. I don't know what the hell those freaky tattoos do but you can barely stand up. Just watch Sakura-chan here and I promise I will explain." And before Sasuke could retort Naruto was gone.

He appeared once more in front of Temari who was still on her knees in shock. "I'm pretty sure your brother isn't dead," Naruto said. "That sand is hard as hell so he most likely-."

"_**UZUMAKIIIII!**_" An explosion was heard down below and a tower of sand rose high above the trees snapping and destroying many of them.

"Oh Kami...we are doomed. We're going to die," Temari practically sobbed. Naruto paled greatly as he took in the form of a full-fledged Bijuu. It was enormous. The Shuukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, had come.

And thus our story begins.

**BLOOD-LINE**


	2. Blood Bane

**AN: So I decided to update fast so that way people can understand that this is a legitimate story and I hope you all can review and let me know your thoughts. I will be updating a few stories and then try and set up an update schedule. Anyways enjoy the next installment of Blood-line.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this story.**_

**Xxx**

**Chapter 2: Blood bane**

_"Now Naruto welcome to your first day of training. Today we will try to break down and understand what your bloodline is," Sarutobi started as he stood across from Naruto. "From as much as I gathered it would seem that you are able to teleport to where ever your blood is. If the area or thing has been destroyed then your blood would obviously dissipate. Do you understand so far?" _

_Naruto raised his hand and the Hokage nodded. "What does dissipate mean?"_

_"It means to disappear. For example, this shuriken," the old man held up a shuriken. "Come here and prick your finger on it then walk back to your spot." Naruto did as he was told before walking back to his spot. "Now do you see that you are linked to it?" Naruto was silent for a moment as he activated Blood-line before nodding. _

_Sarutobi held the shuriken in his hand and Naruto looked in wonder until the Hokage closed his fist and merely crushed the metal star. Naruto was shocked at how easily the man before him was able to crush the weapon. It was a testament to how powerful the Hokage was. Sarutobi opened his hand showing a pile of metal dust before using pure wind chakra to blow it away. _

_"Now see if you still have that connection." Naruto did so and then shook his head in confusion. _

_"What happened?"_

_"When your blood is destroyed then you can no longer teleport to that spot. We will later learn what can destroy and/or nullify your technique." _

Xxx

Naruto looked up at the behemoth in front of him. Things were just not going his way. After making sure his teammates were safe Naruto had immediately used Blood-line to come back to the shuriken he had left in the forest. And now that he was back he was facing the Shuukaku revived. It was a giant tanuki made of sand with blue veins running down its body and black curves accentuating its sides. Temari was shaking like a leaf behind him. She was on her knees practically rocking back and forth.

"We're doomed. We're doomed. We're doomed," the girl repeated over and over again. Naruto quickly grabbed the girl and placed her on her feet. It was sort of humorous seeing as how she was almost three to four inches taller than the boy.

"Oi quit _freaking_ out! We can get through this!" Naruto screamed at the girl almost having to shake her. Gamakichi hopped onto the blonde's head making Naruto look up. "Huh?"

"Naruto-nii we got trouble!" Naruto spun around and watched as Pakkun ran out of the area as sand streamed towards them.

"Now you're done Uzumaki!" Gaara cackled as he stuck out on top of Shuukaku's head. The sand rushed towards the two blondes and Naruto quickly grabbed Temari and jumped out of the way. The girl let out a squeak in surprise and Naruto jumped from branch to branch hoping to dodge the sand. It was becoming more and more difficult as more sand seemed to amass and Naruto was finding it hard to dodge. He couldn't reach for any of his kunai or shuriken to get blood on either. His last shuriken on the branch had been swallowed by the sand too. He had to improvise.

"Temari can you reach your ninja tools?" Temari looked at the boy oddly before nodding. "Grab a few shuriken or kunai now!" The girl did as asked and grabbed a couple shuriken and a kunai which was hard due to Naruto's bouncing. "Now cut me and throw them anywhere you can that isn't covered by sand!" Not understanding fully Temari pricked the boy lightly on his hand with the weapons before lobbing them Kami knows where.

"Why'd you-," Temari's question was cut off as she felt a lurching sensation and she found them in a different area far away from the sand. "Wha?"

Gaara cackled loudly as his sand crushed the spot Naruto just was. "You're strong Uzumaki! Your blood will appease mother!" The boy put his hands in a seal and closed his eyes while shouting, "_Tanuki Neiri no jutsu!_" Suddenly Gaara flopped forward as consciousness left him. The giant tanuki made of sand stopped and the the golden eyes that held a strange diamond pattern in it spun. The golden eyes turned a pale yellow and the tanuki let out a shrill squeal of delight.

"**I'M FREEEE!**" Shuukaku screeched out while laughing insanely. The tanuki started to stomp around and its blue veins started glow. "**Finally I'm out of that stupid boy! Heheheh! So much to destroy! I want blood!**"

"Kami no... It's free," Temari whispered. She had only seen her brother unleash the Shuukaku a few times but when Gaara did there were no survivors. It was only the Kazekage, her father, that was able to stop Shuukaku when it rampaged. And that man wasn't here. "We're going to die boy. We have no hope!"

Naruto growled, "my name isn't boy. And just because that thing is loose doesn't mean I'm giving up. I just need to think!" Naruto didn't have a lot of time to think because just as he stopped the Ichibi found them and squealed in delight.

"**Looky look! I found some people to kill!**" Shuukaku threw its arms out and a wave of sand sprang forth attempting to swallow Naruto and Temari. Naruto let out a quick curse before he flickered to another area. However, unlike Gaara, the tanuki had created much, _much_ more sand and Naruto felt his foot get grabbed when he was about to haze out again.

"Gah!" The sand started to creep up the blonde's body and Naruto quickly threw Temari and Gamakichi away from before they were caught too. The girl let out a grunt of pain before scrambling up. Naruto tried to pull his body out of the confines of the sand as it crept to his waist but it was constricting him too much.

"Naruto!" Temari went forward to try and help but a shout from Naruto stopped her.

"Don't! If you get near then it's going to grab you too!"

"But you're going to die!" Naruto frowned and activated Blood-line to try and see if any of Temari's weapons were still usable. He cursed as he saw that there were no more lines leading to them meaning they were most likely destroyed and in a pile of sand. Letting the world go back to normal Naruto started to panic as the sand reached his chest.

"**I can't wait for your blood to stain my sand!**" Shuukaku cackled. Naruto glared up at the giant. He was pretty stuck. If he flickered away he would probably bring a good portion of the sand with him since it was clinging so tight to him. What Naruto needed was to blow it apart. He looked to the side to see Temari with panic and fear in her eyes. If he died then she was next. Even if Gaara was her brother, the demon in front of them had no qualms destroying her. Naruto was a ninja to protect not to kill. He wouldn't let more people die because of him. Not after Haku! Gritting his teeth Naruto's eyes landed on Gamakichi as the little toad hopped in panic. And that was when his blue eyes widened.

Naruto quickly bit his thumb as sand started to rise above his shoulders. 'If you want a fight then I'll give you a fight you sad excuse for a beach,' Naruto thought as he weaved through seals. 'Come on Kyuubi! Give me some damn _chakra_!'

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry this happened," Temari cried as sand encapsulates Naruto's head.

"Aniki!"

"**Hehe hahah! Die!**"

"_KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!_" A blast of ninja smoke erupted from the coffin of sand and surrounded some of the forest. The Shuukaku blinked as it felt its sand blown apart and narrowed its eyes as the wind blew the ninja smoke away. There in all his glory sat the boss summon of the toads, Gamabunta. The tremendous toad blinked and took in his surroundings. On top of his head crouched Naruto with his hand on the toad's head.

Behind him sat the shocked Temari and the excited Gamakichi. 'What is this?!' Temari thought flabbergasted. She was a summoner herself and could call upon the weasels but she had never met a boss summon. And she never heard of a Genin able to summon a boss! Who the hell was this Naruto!

Naruto stood up shakily and grinned. "Alright now we have a party here. Hey Boss it's good to see you again! I need ya here to help me out," Naruto grinned. Gamabunta finally got his bearings and looked up to see a grinning Naruto.

"**What? What am I doing here brat!?**"

"Uhhhh do you not see the giant sand monster over there?" Gamabunta looked to the sand demon and stared.

"So what do ya say Boss let's do this and kick that things ass rig-."

"**No.**"

"Wha?"

"**No,**" Bunta stated simply. "**Why would I help. We didn't even drink yet to show you as my underling.**"

Naruto face faulted. "What the hell. Come on man I'm freaking thirteen! How the hell am I supposed to get booze!" The boy started smacking the toad on the head. "Plus, look at how big you are! You know how much I would need to buy to just get you buzzed! I'm a Genin! Say it with me. Ge-nin! That means I get payed crap!" As Naruto ranted Temari couldn't help but stare.

'And here I was starting to think of this kid as an amazing ninja. He's still that loud mouth I met in the beginning of the Chunin exams,' the girl though with a sweat drop.

"Aww come on pops." Gamakichi hopped onto Naruto's head making the boy stop his tirade. "Let's help the kid out. He's really strong and plus he helped me out when that guy over was bullying me." Gamabunta stiffened before looking back to the Shuukaku that had its tail swaying back and forth.

"**Alright kid I'll accept you as my underling. No one picks on my son and gets away with it.**"

"Really boss?"

"**Yeah. You and that little lady better hold on tight,**" Bunta pulled out his tanto from its scabbard and bent low, "**because things are gonna get wild.**" And with that said the toad boss hopped forward at an extreme speed barely giving time for Naruto and Temari to stick to Gamabunta's head with chakra.

"**Ooo another thing for me to kill?!**" Shuukaku laughed as it swung its claw forward. Gamabunta met the strike with his blade and the two locked in a stalemate. "**Hehehe I bet your blood will taste like chicken!**"

"**Taste this!**" The toad pushed forward and swung up cleaving the sand arm off of Shuukaku's body. The tanuki screeched in pain and held its side. All form of amusement was gone from its face.

"**That hurt you insect!**" Shuukaku took a deep breath and its stomach welled up. "_**Fuuton: Renkuudan!**_" The Bijuu slammed its fist into its stomach and shot out three large air bullets. The projectiles flew at Gamabunta and the toad jumped high up to avoid them. "**I've got you now! **_**Renkuudan!**_" Shuukaku shot three more bullets of air at the airborne toad knowing it couldn't dodge.

"**Damn! Hold on kids! **_**Suiton: Tempoudama!**_" Gamabunta fired his own three shots of water hoping to cancel out the wind bullets. Two were in time but one was too close and the explosion knocked Bunta and his passengers to the ground.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed as they slid to a stop. "Dammit how are we supposed to take this thing down?"

"I told you. It's impossible to win when Gaara puts himself to sleep." Gamabunta tilted his head and stood back up.

"**Wait so you're saying the host is asleep. Then that's what we gotta do gaki.**"

"Huh?" replied Naruto.

"**We have to wake up the container and Shuukaku should go back into the boy's seal. If we can do that then we can win this.**" Gamabunta had to finish his explanation fast as he dodged a wave of sand. Spinning around he took his tanto and cleaved an air bullet in half making two waves of air crash behind him and explode. "**And you better do it fast. Fighting a Bijuu is not on my to do list today!**"

Shuukaku reformed its lost arm and held out both claws towards the group. It started firing spikes of sand out and Gamabunta hopped over them before flipping forward to deliver an overhead slash. The tanuki abandoned shooting and spun around sending its tail to meet the knife. There was a scraping sound and the two great beings jumped apart.

"**Get to it boy! I can't keep fighting this thing!**" Gamabunta yelled as he jumped forwards to avoid a wave sand.

"**Hehehe I can't wait kill you!**" Shuukaku sent a claw of sand flying at the toad and he fired a blast of water in return. The two attacks met and exploded sending a shower of sand and water plummeting to the ground. While this was going on. Naruto was looking at the tanuki's head closely trying to spot Gaara's head. Seeing a flash of red the boy grinned and reached into his thigh pouch.

"Hey Boss toad can you get me close to that thing?" Naruto asked.

"**I can't hold on to that thing brat. I don't have claws or teeth so I can't grab on to it.**"

"I didn't say grab him just get close. I know just what to do," Naruto cut his finger and swiped his blood on a shuriken. Gamabunta looked up at the boy oddly before shrugging.

"**If you say so kid. Here we go!**" The summon lurched forward and hopped from side to side making sure not give the Bijuu a target.

"Are you going to use _that_ move to get to Gaara?" Temari asked. Naruto nodded quickly not taking his eyes off of Gaara's sleeping form. "But your shuriken won't even get close!"

"Just watch you'll see," grinned Naruto. "And now's my chance!" Gamabunta sprang forward and crossed his blade with one of Shuukaku's claws effectively distracting the creature. Naruto took advantage of this and jumped high into the air above the sand demon's head.

"Take this!" Naruto threw his arm forward as hard as he could and the shuriken buzzed down. The Shuukaku looked up and growled.

"**Pathetic toys! You think that can hurt me!**" Just as the demon was about to slap the shuriken down another one spun from under it and arced to the side flying straight towards Gaara. "**What!**" Shuukaku was able to knock the first one away but the second was too close to knock away and was almost to the red head.

"A shuriken in the shadow of the first! That's brilliant! When did he-," Temari stopped herself because when she looked back towards Naruto he was already gone leaving a haze of red. The boy appeared in front of Gaara and grabbed the shuriken before raising his leg and landing an axe kick to the other boy's shoulder.

"Time to wake up!" Naruto roared. Gaara woke up with a cry of pain and a piercing screech was heard.

"**NOOOOooooo! I was free! I was freeee!**" The Ichibi's scream was drowned out as the sand demon began to crumble. Naruto and Gaara began to free fall slowly heading towards the ground.

"I-I lost," Gaara whispered as they free fell. He looked to the side numbly to see his blonde opponent flapping his arms wildly. "How could I lose?" Naruto noticed Gaara's gaze and he positioned his body so he could fall towards him. Gaara saw this and started to panic. "No! No! I don't want to die! Don't end my existence!"

"I'm not going to kill you," Naruto said as he latched onto the other boy. "It hurts doesn't it? Being what we are. I know it was hard for me but I can't imagine the pain you went through," Naruto gave Gaara a sad look and pulled the red head close before reaching into his weapon pouch. He only had a single kunai left. It would have to do.

"What we are?" Gaara asked. Naruto nodded as the ground came closer. With a quick slice of his hand he sent the blade shooting down. The kunai hit the ground and Naruto appeared by it. Gaara looked around in surprise seeing as how they weren't falling anymore.

Naruto noticed this and grinned. "Better we don't go splat after I just spent all the time trying to beat you."

"You said we... What do you mean?"

Naruto sighed and set Gaara down before saying, "I'm like you. I also hold a demon." Gaara widened his eyes. "Yeah, but the thing is the difference is that I did my best to try and find people that cared about me. I did and I let them in. You didn't let anyone in. You pushed everyone away."

"They all want to kill me. No one can come close to me."

"That's not true. I mean what about your sister and your brother. They care. They try to be there even when you scare them," Gaara though about the blonde's words and couldn't help but remember all the times that those two had stayed by him. In fact Temari was flying down on her fan now from Gamabunta's head as the great toad disappeared back to its realm.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled as she ran towards him. She slowed down as she noticed Naruto still over him but at Naruto's nod she rushed to her brother. "Gaara are you hurt? Is anything broken?" Temari questioned. As she talked Gaara couldn't help but be shocked at how the girl cared for him.

"See. I told you. If you just let people in then maybe you can change. But I will say this," Naruto's gaze hardened as he looked at the two. "If you ever try to hurt my precious people, I'll take you down." Temari gulped and nodded while Gaara stared blankly. It was at that time that Kankurou appeared looking haggard.

"Temari! Gaara!" Kankurou yelled as he limped over to them. He took one glance at Naruto before doing his best to get to his siblings.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah Gaara looks fine. And he doesn't seem to be able to do anything," Temari said. Gaara merely looked blankly at the two then back to Naruto.

"Uzumaki, what of us now?"

Naruto shrugged and said, "I don't know. You can't do anything now."

"Tch what do you mean can't do anything. Even with Gaara down its two against one," Kankurou stated as he reached behind his back. Even if Karasu was a bit worn down he could still use it. Temari touched his shoulder and shook her head. This boy could take them both out and not even try.

"Please Naruto just let us get home. We need to get Gaara medical attention," Naruto looked at the girl for a moment and shrugged.

"If you can get out. I suggest just staying till everything has settled down." Naruto walked away and Temari nodded before she and Kankurou picked Gaara up.

"Temari. Kankurou." Said people looked down at Gaara.

"Y-yes?"

"...I'm sorry." Temari and Kankurou looked shocked before Temari began to smile.

"It's okay Gaara. Everything will be alright." Naruto nodded to himself. Things would get better for the other boy. Surely.

Xxx

Naruto leaned against his wall as rain pattered on his window. It was a sad day today. The Sandaime Hokage, his surrogate grandfather, had been cremated this morning. Sarutobi had perished in his fight against Orochimaru. Naruto placed his hand over his eyes and tried not to cry. He had cried this morning and he had no desire to do so anymore.

Wiping his face Naruto stripped out of his funeral clothes and headed for the shower. What Iruka-sensei said was right. Jii-san had died to protect the village. He had died a hero and did so in hopes that the Will of Fire would burn on.

'I won't disappoint you Jii-jii. I promise I won't give up and I'm not going kid myself anymore.' Naruto hopped out of the shower and wiped the fog from the mirror. 'I will be the best shinobi ever!'

Naruto quickly dressed in his usual attire and headed out the door. Taking a deep breath the blonde could see the rain letting up. It was as if the Sandaime was smiling over the boy as he pushed away the rain clouds. Naruto grinned before bounding towards the training ground. It was time for a new start.

Naruto walked through the village with his hands behind his head. It seemed like most of the damage that Konoha had received was to the buildings. The casualties were minimal for the ninja populace while the civilian was practically none. Naruto had heard from Iruka that they had hid in a bunker inside the Hokage monument. As Naruto meandered through broken buildings and rubble he couldn't help but let his mind wander.

With the Sandaime gone the decree he and Naruto had agreed upon was now void. But the thing was Naruto was done with hiding his ability. It was time to accept the gift his father had unintentionally given him. He loved his dad but there were still some scars and if he ever did meet the man he would probably sock the guy in the gut. But Naruto was done being petty. His dad did what he had to. However, now that Naruto had used Blood-line in front of his teammate things might get complicated. He didn't know how to explain what happened.

While Naruto contemplated on how he would break the news to his team he couldn't help but hope for something to get him out of his predicament. Almost as if Kami was listening Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see a mane of white spiky hair and a grinning face.

"There you are. Just the brat I'm looking for," Jiraiya said as he looked down at Naruto. "Pack your stuff kid. We are heading out?"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion while squinting his eyes. He reminded the Sannin of a fox when he did that. "What do you mean? Heading where?" Now Naruto thought the self-proclaimed super pervert was a good guy. Hell the guy taught him how to summon. But Naruto knew he really needed to meet his team. Maybe he could even ask Kakashi-sensei to teach him that Chidori move. The blonde practically drooled over the prospect of knowing that jutsu.

"Sorry Ero-Sennin but I can't go. I have to meet with my team. Besides why should I go with you?" Naruto stated as he turned to start walking.

"I already talked with Kakashi. You are okay to come with me," Jiraiya said as Naruto continued to walk.

"Doesn't mean I should go with ya, ya perv," Jiraiya frowned before a small smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh well guess I will just need to ask someone else to come with me so I can teach them a super awesome jutsu." Naruto froze at that and Jiraiya pressed on. "Maybe that Uchiha. I'm sure he'd love a chance to learn such an amazing technique." The blonde Genin turned and stared at the Sannin.

"A super awesome technique you say?"

"Yup. A-rank and makes the Chidori look like a butter knife." Naruto grinned.

"I'll start packing."

Xxx

Naruto grumbled as he sat in the hotel room. Two days they had been on this little trip and Naruto hadn't learned anything from the old pervert. Though in all honesty the boy couldn't complain. It was good to have some quiet time on his own. At the moment he was surrounded by about six clones. They were doing random things, three were playing cards, one was flipping through channels on the tv, and the last few were walking up and down the walls throwing pillows at each other.

Naruto, himself, was tossing a shuriken to one side of his room then teleporting to it before tossing it to the other side and doing it again. It was an exercise the Sandaime had taught him to raise his focus. Using Blood-line over and over again was strenuous on his mind. It required focus to be able to continuously teleport. Plus if Naruto strengthened his mind he was able to call forth an image of some of the farther away areas his Blood-line points were. He couldn't do it all the time so Naruto knew that's why he needed to train more.

So here the boy was, waiting for Jiraiya because that pervert was off chasing a girl. A knocking on the hotel door interrupted his thoughts and Naruto looked at his clones.

"Looks like Ero-Sennin struck out," his clones chuckled with him as he opened the door. "So how'd she deny you? Eh Ero-Senn-...who are you?" Naruto finished in a whisper. In front of him stood an older looking Sasuke. He must have been at least five years older than Naruto making him at least eighteen.

"We would like you to please come with us Naruto-kun," the man said.

'Sasuke?' Thought Naruto.

"Man Itachi are you sure this runt is the Kyuubi host?" Naruto twitched visibly and looked to other man who looked frightening. It was like a shark and a man fused. "We can't have him run so maybe I should cut off his leg eh?" He said as he reached for the object on his back.

"No Kisame. We can't hurt the boy to a point he might go into shock." Naruto blinked rapidly and dispersed his clones letting their remaining chakra flood into him. Strangely he was hit with some memories of a card game.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Naruto whispered.

"Please come outside," Naruto felt compelled to do as he was told and walked out of the room. Itachi and Kisame looked at Naruto as if a predator was gazing at its prey. But the Sharingan wielder suddenly straightened and his eyes narrowed. "It has been awhile...Sasuke."

Naruto chanced a look behind the men and lo and behold there was his teammate. Sasuke stood across the hall with his Sharingan spinning.

"Huh another Sharingan. This kid looks similar to you Itachi. You know him?" Kisame said.

"He is my...younger brother," Itachi answered. Naruto recoiled in shock and looked between the two Uchiha.

'This is the guy that Sasuke wanted to kill!'

"Itachi! I've lived for this day. Dreamed of it. I have bathed in hatred. Gained strength through it!" Sasuke held up his left hand and a Chidori sprang to life. "I will kill you!" Sasuke rushed forward and held his hand out grinding out a large groove in the wall.

'Chidori?' Itachi thought. Naruto watched in amazement as his teammate rushed forward and lightning arced around his fist. He was shocked as Itachi grabbed Sasuke's wrist and slammed it into a wall effectively nullifying the attack. Itachi kicked Sasuke in the stomach sending the boy coughing to the floor.

"Shit time for me to do something!" Naruto said as he started to call out Kyuubi's chakra. Itachi and Kisame looked in surprise as a shroud of orange chakra started to come off the blonde boy while Sasuke stared in confusion.

"Heh wow this chakra is strong. So terrifying and it fills up the room," Kisame stated as he pulled Samehada off his back. Naruto went through seals as Kisame struck out.

"Ninpou: Kuchiyose-."

"Not today kid!" As the sword passes by the blonde Genin Naruto suddenly felt as if his chakra was sapped away.

"What?!"

"Heh too bad for you kid! Samehada eats chakra. Now time to take off that leg!" Kisame brought his sword down and Naruto prepared to dodge but a cloud of smoke obscured everyone's view from the boy. There was a clang and Kisame was bounced away.

"Heh you don't know much about me. I'm better at getting girls than them getting me. It's my speciality!" The cloud of ninja smoke dissipates and in front of Naruto was a toad with armor that blocked Naruto. "Behold the mighty and gallant Jiraiya of the Sannin! Women swoon and men bow to my might!" Jiraiya yelled from behind Naruto. Naruto turned his head and gave the white haired man a stony look.

"You asshole. She gave you one little wink and you rushed off!" Naruto yelled. Jiraiya ignored the boy and walked forward.

"So I was right. You are after Naruto aren't you," Naruto recoiled in shock.

"Of course. No wonder Kakashi-senpai knew of us. You were behind that," Itachi replied. "You are correct. Our mission is to take Naruto for our organization _Akatsuki_. Do not stand in our way."

"Pfft you misunderstand," Jiraiya answered. "You two are going to die by my hand."

"Don't do it." Sasuke whispered. "This guy...is mine!" Sasuke pushed himself up shakily and glared at Itachi. Itachi stared at Sasuke before walking away.

"I have no interest in you right now." Sasuke roared and lunged for the older boy but Itachi merely kicked Sasuke to the opposing wall. Sasuke coughed out and landed on the ground.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he stepped forward.

"Naruto! I told you don't" Naruto stopped and glared. The damn bastard and his pride. Itachi turned and narrowed his eyes as he saw dull marks appear on Sasuke's left arm. Itachi turned and walked towards Sasuke before stopping in front of him.

"Come on!" Sasuke yelled as he stood up. What happened after was a vicious beating to the boy as Itachi mercilessly tossed Sasuke around.

"Damn it let's go Ero-Sennin!" Naruto said as he moved forward feeling some chakra come back. Jiraiya gripped the blonde's arm and Naruto turned. "What the hell!"

"This is his fight. He needs to resolve this on his own." Naruto growled and glared hard at the Sannin. Sasuke dropped to the ground gasping and Itachi grasped the boy by the neck before slamming him into the wall.

"Weak," whispered Itachi. "_Tsukiyomi_..." Itachi's Sharingan slowly morphed before Sasuke's eyes and hell broke loose. Sasuke's scream echoed across the hall. That was it for Naruto.

"Screw this! Time to step in!" Naruto ripped his shoulder from the Sannin's grip and grabbed a few shuriken from his weapons pouch. He gripped them tightly, cutting himself and bleeding over them, and threw his hands out. One shuriken landed by his feet while the other two spun out. One flew at the ceiling while the other buzzed forward. Itachi lifted an eyebrow as it stuck beside Sasuke's head.

"Naruto wait!" Jiraiya yelled but stopped his rant as everyone's eyes popped out of their head, even the normally stoic Itachi's. Naruto disappeared in haze of red and appeared next to Sasuke with his feet clinging to the wall. It happened in less than a second and Naruto's appearance was instantaneous. It was so shocking to everyone that Kisame almost dropped Samehada and Itachi's grip on his brother loosened.

"I'll take that thank you," Naruto said quickly as he grabbed Sasuke and flickered onto the ceiling before hazing back to the shuriken on the ground. "Whew glad that worked. You still with us teme?" Naruto said as he draped Sasuke's arm over his shoulder.

Sasuke didn't reply and looked blankly out and Naruto frowned.

"N-Naruto what the hell was that?" Jiraiya whispered. Naruto huffed and pointed at the two Akatsuki members that were slowly gaining their bearings back.

"Less talking and more acting Ero-Sennin." Jiraiya blinked slowly before nodding. He would get rid of these two then get his answers and there was no doubt he would be getting his answers.

Xxx

"So what was thing you did to that black fire?" Naruto and Jiraiya were now on the road once more. The Sannin had tried trapping the offending duo in a strange technique that made halls all squishy. Jiraiya had told Naruto not to move because it was the stomach of one of the fire breathing rock toads. As slightly disgusting as that sounded Naruto couldn't help but be impressed.

However, Itachi and Kisame were able to escape and made a hole using some strange black fire. Jiraiya had told the boy that the fire was extremely dangerous and preceded to do some weird thing where he sucked into a scroll. It was pretty cool. Afterwards, Gai had appeared out of nowhere and kicked Jiraiya upside the head. Naruto thought that was funny as hell. Naruto had also learned that Kakashi was injured by Itachi too. That made finding Tsunade even more important. For Sasuke and Kakashi. With Gai taking the unconscious Sasuke back to Konoha the two were on their way.

"It was fuinjutsu. I sealed the fire into a scroll. Might be of some use someday," Jiriaya answered.

"Wow," Naruto whistled. "So that's fuinjutsu. Looks cool." Naruto tapped his chin and started to let his mind drift. This guy had stated that he had trained the Yondaime when they first met. So he had trained his dad who was said to have been a master at seals, case and point the seal holding back Kyuubi. Maybe it would be a good idea to learn that art.

"Hey Ero-Sennin," Naruto started. Jiraiya grunted, having his own questions and wondering how to ask them. "You think you could teach me sealing?" Jiraiya stopped his pondering and literally preened. His heart swelled with pride and he gave the boy a hearty grin.

"Now that is where I can make you soar. Did you know that I am one of the few seal masters in the world. Hell I might be the best there is. You know I taught the Yondaime right," Jiraiya's grin faltered and his previous thought came back. "Speaking of him, we should talk."

Naruto tilted his head and asked, "what about?"

"Well would you mind explaining what the hell you did back there? I mean I haven't seen something like that since," Jiraiya trailed off slowly and tried to find a good way to finish his thought. He wanted to say 'since the Yondaime' but was scared. Scared that the boy in front of him might connect the dots. But the kid was thick. He'd never figure it out. If the man only had known.

Naruto had noticed Jiraiya's faltering and shook his head. "You mean 'since the Yondaime' don't you." Jiraiya flinched visibly and gave the boy a wide stare.

"How'd you know?"

"Of course I would know. I would have to know where my kekkei genkai came from." Jiraiya stumbled but Naruto continued on.

"You have a bloodline!?"

"Yes. I call it Blood-line," Jiraiya ignored the strange name and pressed on.

"But when did you get that? How did you get that? How come I wasn't told? Why haven't you used it?" Jiraiya rambled. Naruto felt a twitch in his eye and sighed. This would happen eventually so no use in getting too worked up.

"Umm let me see if I can answer those in order. I think I've always had this. First time it came was when I was five and first time I actually used it on my own was when I was twelve. As far as how I got it, I'm not sure. It has something to do with the Yondaime," Naruto said. "As far as why you weren't told, why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why did you need to be told?" Asked the boy. "It was a secret between me and Hokage-jii. In fact there was a decree that I wasn't to use this until he said so or...or he died."

"But I would have thought the old man would have told me I mean I am..." Naruto looked at the Sannin as he slowly stopped talking. He looked troubled. As if trying to come to terms with something. "Naruto the thing is, I knew who your father was." Naruto blinked. Was that what was bothering the man.

"I know too. Namikaze Minato, better known as the Yondaime. He is my dad and also some what the reason why I have Blood-line." Jiraiya looked appalled. The kid knew who his dad was and wasn't screaming it to the world. "Now as for your last question. The reason I didn't use my kekkei genkai was because of my dad. I resented him." Well that was the answer on why the brat wasn't yelling he was the Yondaime's son. Jiraiya twitched and frowned. It was to be expected though. The kid was just thirteen so it was no wonder he resented, wait.

"Resented? As in past tense?"

"Yeah. I never hated dad. I just hated what he did but I've gotten over it. He was my dad. He loved me and did his best to do what was right. Heck he even gave me my awesome ability so I can't really stay mad at him," Naruto stated. "I mean don't get me wrong. When I meet him I'm socking him in the stomach," Jiraiya chuckled at that, "but it is high time I grew up. I was given a gift so I should use it. I wasted a lot of time not training with it to the full degree I should have."

Jiraiya smiled proudly at the boy. He sure was mature. That's why he could only hope he could take what he was about to say well. "Naruto I have a confession."

Naruto gave the man an odd look before shrugging. "If you are gonna say you are related to me and you are sorry then no need."

"Godfather actually, but what do you mean no need. I should be apologizing right now and on my knees."

"Fine get on your knees," Jiraiya did so. However, he was so tall that even on his knees he was the same height as Naruto. Something the boy didn't fail to notice. "I hate your height."

"Naruto I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I tried my best to check in on you though," Jiraiya bowed. "I should have done more. I made sure, though, that you always had money to take care of yourself. I even gave you your wallet."

"You mean Gama-chan?" Naruto cut in pulling his froggy wallet from his travel pack.

"Yes that's the one," Jiraiya chuckled. "I'm just sorry. I had to make sure my spy network was holding up so that Konoha was safe and I couldn't be around you all the time or people would ask questions. Oh and-."

"Ero-Sennin," Naruto cut Jiraiya off mid ramble and put his hand on the Sannin's shoulder. "Thanks for making sure I was okay." Jiraiya looked at the blonde's smiling face and couldn't help a few tears. The boy was tough. "It's nice to meet you, godfather." Jiraiya stood and pulled the boy into a brief hug.

"You're going to be strong Naruto." Naruto blinked slowly, not used to hugging, but grinned and hugged back before the two separated quickly. They were still men after all, and men don't hug for long periods of time. Never.

Somewhere in Konoha Maito Gai sneezed.

"So kid as we walk how bout I give you a little crash course in sealing and you tell me a little bout this Blood-line as you call it."

"Sure Ero-Sennin but where are we going now?"

"Tanzaku town."


	3. Blood Training

**AN: A new chapter for you all. I have this written to about chapter 5 and I'm just rereading everything since I don't have a beta. If anyone is up for it just review or send a PM. Thanks for all of your support and reading guys!**

**Xxx**

**Chapter 3: Blood Training**

_"Now Naruto as you can tell it seems that whatever holds some of your blood you are able to teleport to it. I have noticed, though, that there are times when you don't teleport to the point that you wanted to go to," Sarutobi stated as Naruto sat in the grass with shuriken in his hand. _

_"Yeah I've notice that too Jii-jii. Like I would prick my finger then throw it at you when we were training and when I wanted to Blood-line to it there would be no line there," Naruto said. Hiruzen stroked his beard as he thought about it. _

_"Naruto let's do some tests shall we. I want you to take three shuriken. On one I want you cut your thumb and swipe it on the shuriken like you would normally do. On the second, merely prick your finger as you have done when you were either too lazy to cut your thumb or rushing. And finally, cut your palm and coat the last shuriken with blood." Naruto nodded and did as he was told. When he was done he had three shuriken, one being almost red with his blood, one having a red swipe of blood over it, and one that looked fairly normal except for a speck of red on one of the four tips. _

_"Here Jii-san," Naruto said. _

_"Now activate Blood-line and then tell me if you're connected to them." Naruto did so and nodded. He had seen lines going to all three before he made the world move once more. Sarutobi thanked the boy and held up the shuriken with a blood swipe. _

_"This Naruto will be our control."_

_"Control?"_

_"Yes Naruto-kun. We are working with variables. That means we are working with unknowns. We don't know why sometimes you are unable to teleport to your shuriken at times which is why we are doing an experiment." The Sandaime threw the first shuriken into the ground then held up the other two. _

_"This one is the shuriken that you would sometimes use," he held up the ninja star that Naruto had pricked his finger on. "And this is one that you have never done before. We are goin to simulate a battle with these two." Sarutobi threw them both close to the ground and made them skip across the dirt. The the two weapons skipped and bounced along till they stuck to random trees. _

_"Now if you would activate Blood-line then tell me what you see." Naruto did so and the world froze and sounds stopped. Naruto saw a line leading to the control shuriken and one leading to the one that was coated in his blood. But the shuriken he pricked his finger on, there was no longer a line. He voiced this once he disabled his ability. _

_"I've come to the conclusion that the more blood you use then the less chance connection will be disrupted. In a battle situation weapons receive wear and tear. Let's say you throw the shuriken that you pricked your finger with and it had gone through an attack that would have wiped that small amount of blood away like the dirt did. The blood was covered and completely dissipated."_

_Naruto rubbed his chin and thought. "Dissipated like when you crushed my shuriken?"_

_"Correct Naruto-kun." _

_And with that Naruto became aware that there were weaknesses to everything. _

Xxx

"So fuinjutsu basically uses seals to perform techniques. Depending on how you write the seal affects what it does, right?" Naruto asked as he held a book on basic sealing he was given.

"Correct," Jiraiya said. "That is the basic book on the fundamentals that I wrote. Fuinjutsu requires a high knowledge on the what you are trying to manipulate. It is also very important to know the correct sequence of what seal does what and how they affect each other. You also need to be quite adept at calligraphy."

"Adept?"

"You need better handwriting gaki." Naruto cursed but continued to read. Handwriting was something he would need to work on in his own time. But as he read more he couldn't help but be fascinated at the material in his hand. Fuinjutsu was basically reliant on the imagination. If you could find the correct seals and put them in a correct sequence then the formula should be able to work. However, it was a very dangerous art. One wrong move and you could effectively blow yourself apart.

"Anyways, that's enough studying for now. We need to head back into town and try looking for Tsunade again. Plus you need to get back to training in that jutsu I was showing you," Jiraiya said as he held up a water balloon. Naruto sighed and took the balloon from the man's hand and glared at it. They had been Tanazaku town for three days and once they had gotten there Jiraiya had started Naruto on the new jutsu training. It wasn't going so well.

"So show me again how I'm supposed to pop it," Jiraiya held up a water balloon in his own hand and it started to bulge. Bumps appeared all over it before it burst apart and water splashed out. "Alright well time to get to it. _Kage bunshin no jutsu!_" Naruto summoned five clones and looked them over. "You all know what she looks like. If any of you find her run back and tell me," Naruto said.

"Why would you have them run here," Jiraiya asked as he scratched his head.

"What do you mean? How else are they supposed to give me information?" Jiraiya gave Naruto a deadpan look as if saying 'are you serious?'

"Um dispel themselves? I mean you do know how Kage bunshin works right?"

"Clones." Naruto stated simply. "More chakra equals more clones, right boys?"

"Right boss!" The clones yelled in agreement.

"Wrong!" Jiraiya yelled out exasperated. How could this boy who is able to make more clones then anyone in the world not know how shadow clones work!

"Wrong boss!"

"Shush! What do you mean wrong? Isn't that what Kage bunshin was made for? To even odds?" Naruto asked.

"No because not everyone is a chakra factory like you brat. Kage bunshin was made as a technique for espionage, or spying. If the ninja had the chakra for it then they could send the clone to get the information and dispel. What the clone knew would be sent to the creator," Jiriaya explained. "Plus, because clones don't give back physical trauma then the creator wouldn't feel the pain if the clone was killed." Naruto opened and closed his mouth in shock. Suddenly the memory of a card game appeared in his head and the boy remembered the time his clones were playing cards in the hotel room.

"What-the-_HELL_! How come no one has ever told me this?"

"Everyone assumed you knew! I mean you spam clones like no tomorrow so we all thought that you knew!" Jiraiya yelled back. Naruto practically pulled his hair out. All this time he could be training with them!

"Okay so let me get this straight," Naruto slowly said as he tried to grasp what was being stated. "If I have my clones read something like this book," Naruto held up the book on basic fuinjutsu, "would I remember it?"

"Effectively yes. The reason it is a forbidden jutsu is because of not only the chakra requirement but also the mental backlash of having the memories of clones coming back at once. People have had their brains fried because of it." Then Jiraiya started to think. And as he thought the man gave Naruto a strange look. That look freaked the blonde out.

"Uhh what are you thinking Ero-Sennin?"

"Naruto as the Kyuubi host you are given extremely powerful regeneration abilities. I believe that with this Kage bunshin memory feedback, you are the only one who is able to use it for training," Jiraiya stroked his chin. Oh yes the prospects could be amazing. This boy could be a power house in a few years.

"Alright fine then. You clones try and find the pervert's teammate in the next few hours then dispel. Even if you can't find her still dispel. As for me!" Naruto summoned another ten clones and looked to Jiraiya. "Let's get started on this training!"

Xxx

Jiraiya was appalled. Why? Because in the span of five days Naruto was now on step three of learning the jutsu Jiraiya had given him. After the boy had learned about the Kage bunshin training method he had used his mass stores of chakra to summon hundreds of clones a day to train. The boy had finished the first book on the basics of sealing and was now on volume two of the basics. In the first day of this new training he had learned how to pop the water balloon. On the third day Naruto had popped the rubber ball. It wasn't so hard seeing as how it was all about power. What Naruto lacked was focus and how to focus power.

The only good thing that Jiraiya could laugh at was the first time Naruto dispelled the hundred clones that were working on the first step. Technically Jiraiya could move the boy's accomplishments up a day because on the first day the boy had knocked himself out for the whole day. Jiraiya was worried at first but when the boy started to mumble about ramen and ramen gods then Jiraiya knew he was fine. After that the Sannin made sure to make the boy dispel clones in groups of five. It took some time but it lessened the mental strain.

So now the two of them were once more in town searching for Jiraiya's teammate Tsunade. Naruto had a balloon filled with air in his hand and a look of fierce concentration on his face. Jiraiya had forbidden the use of clones for this last part. This last step was to be completed by himself and Naruto didn't disagree. It would be a good accomplishment so the boy couldn't refute the man's claim. A loud pop interrupted the quiet of the two walking and Naruto cursed.

"Man Ero-Sennin you weren't kidding. This last step is freaking hard," Naruto grumbled. "How many balloons is that? Twelve? Thirteen?"

"Fifteen kid," Jiraiya said laughing. Naruto cursed and picked up the busted pieces of latex before placing them in his pocket. He'd rather not get a ticket for littering again. The old pervert had laughed too hard at that for the boy's liking.

"Oi Ero-Sennin I'm hungry let's get some food," Naruto said. Jiraiya hummed in thought then looked at the sky. The sun was starting to set so maybe some dinner would be nice.

"Alright kid let's get some grub. I feel like-."

"Ramen!" Naruto yelled jovially.

"Hell no! We had that last night! And the night before!" Jiraiya roared.

"But ramennn!" wailed Naruto. "You shouldn't disgrace the great Ramen Gods. They must be appeased!"

"Sweet Kami. Damn kid you need variety. You know what we're going in here," Jiraiya pointed to small looking bar that held yakiniku. Naruto pouted but relented. Hey if the pervert was paying then Naruto was fine with it. Especially yakiniku. Stuff was expensive.

Jiraiya grinned as he walked in with Naruto behind him but stopped suddenly making Naruto smack into his back. "Hey what the hell Ero-Sennin?"

"Tsunade?" Naruto peered from behind Jiraiya's back and lifted his eyebrow. The Tsunade that he was looking at right now looked almost exactly like the one in Jiraiya's picture.

"That is your teammate? Man she aged well," Naruto whistled. The woman in question, a beautiful blonde with a very large chest with her hair done in pig tails, looked up. Next to her was another pretty girl with short black hair holding what seemed to be a very lavished pig. Naruto scratched his head in confusion. What confused the boy wasn't the fact that he and Jiraiya had found Tsunade. No that was just chance and good luck. No what confused him was the pig eating the yakiniku.

"Hey Ero-Sennin?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Yakiniku has pork in it right?"

"Sometimes I think."

"Hey blonde lady!" Naruto called over getting Tsunade's attention.

"Uhh what?"

"You order pork?"

"...Yeahhh."

"Holy shit! CANNIBAL PIG!"

Xxx

After Naruto was assured by Shizune that the pig was merely eating tofu he and Jiraiya joined them. It seemed that he and Tonton had gotten into an eating match. Naruto was surprised to say that the pig could keep up with him.

"Hello Tsunade," Jiraiya said ignoring the gluttony beside him.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade answered looking a bit queasy. She wasn't used to seeing a boy eat like Naruto. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh can't I just go around and say hi to a teammate?" Tsunade glared at Jiraiya who chuckled.

"Well played Tonton," Naruto said to the side. "That'll do pig. That'll do." Naruto held out his hand and Tonton took it to the blonde's slight surprise. Smart ass pig.

"Tch it seems like I'm seeing a whole bunch of old faces," Tsunade growled as she downed her sake. Shizune gulped as she saw Jiraiya's face turn stony and Naruto turned his attention to the conversation.

"So it seems that you've had a run in with 'him' already. Then I'm sure you know what happened to sensei." Tsunade nodded stiffly.

"Yeah looks like that old snake in the grass finally took the old man out." Naruto looked back and forth between the two Sannin. What were they talking about. Well whatever it was it seemed important.

"What did Orochimaru want Tsunade?" The Genin stiffened and shifted his focus on Tsunade. Orochimaru was the man who killed the Old Man. What did he want with her. And does that mean that he was Jiraiya and this woman's old teammate?

"None of your business pervert. Now what _is_ your business?" Jiraiya sighed before leaning forward and staring at Tsunade.

"Konoha is in need of a leader. You have been named as Hokage."

"WHAT!?" Naruto roared as he stood up. "I thought we just needed her to heal people, especially Sasuke and Kakashi! This is bullshit! Why would they elect her?!"

"Pfft screw that. You know I'm not going back there," Naruto turned surprised eyes to Tsunade. "Besides that job is cursed. Only idiots take that job. Hell I'm surprised sensei lasted as long as he did. He took the job twice after the Yondaime kicked it. Now look where they are. All dead because of their stupidity."

"Hey," Naruto growled, "don't you dare disrespect those guys. They died fighting for what they believe in. And who are you? Just some drunk." Tsunade bristled while Jiraiya leaned back. Shizune grabbed Tonton and held her close.

"Tsunade-sama I'm sure he didn't me-."

"Quiet Shizune. What did you say?"

"You heard me."

"I am the granddaughter of the Shodaime and the grandniece of the Nidaime. Both of them were the Hokage and both died young and stupid. The old man died cause his stupidity for letting that damn Orochimaru go when he should have killed him just because the old man still cared about that snake. And the Yondaime," Naruto bristled and glared. This bitch wouldn't dare. "Well the Yondaime was the dumbest of them all. He died the youngest and for what? A village that continues to make enemies? A village that was betrayed by its _ally_? What a fool."

"Son of a bitch!" Naruto tried to jump over the table and smack the woman in front of him. He didn't care if she was a Sannin. As long as he got one good smack. Unfortunately, Jiraiya was holding Naruto's jacket effectively holding him back. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Tch what a brat. You're still so immature. You have no idea," Tsunade said as she poured a saucer of sake and drained it.

"Tsunade-sama..." Shizune whispered sadly as she looked between the enraged Naruto and her calm master.

"Better an immature brat than a drunk old hag!" Well her master was calm. The broken sake saucer was a testament to how much control the woman had.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. I may be a brat but you're an old hag. Drunk old hag actually," Naruto said with a fierce smile.

"Let's take this outside," Tsunade whispered harshly.

"Gladly." Naruto hopped over the table while Tsunade merely stood and walked around Shizune. Jiraiya palmed his face and sighed.

"This won't end well," the man moaned.

"Jiraiya-sama we have to stop Tsunade-sama! She could kill the boy!" Shizune cried frantically.

"Yeah if she can catch him at least. Come on let's go make sure it doesn't escalate too quickly." Jiraiya pushed himself from the seat with Shizune rushing behind him.

Outside stood Naruto and Tsunade. Naruto took off his jacket and started to stretch his arms and legs with a determined look on his face. This was going to be a tough fight. Naruto was fighting a Sannin. They were known throughout the nations as extremely strong ninja... Meh, he could take her.

Tsunade merely stood on the other end of the road. She was about to curb stomp a Genin. This would take a second. Jiraiya and Shizune walked outside and Jiraiya easily recognized his old teammates look. Boy will she be surprised.

"You know Jiraiya I really didn't think I'd see you going to take a new apprentice. Compared to the Yondaime this kid is nothing. Looks smaller, stupider, and louder," Tsunade said. Jiraiya shrugged and looked at Naruto who only cracked his neck.

"It's hard to compare yourself to such an amazing ninja. That man was sure one of a kind. But," the man smile and nodded at the Genin. "One of a kind means there is someone just as special but in a different way. Their own one of a kind."

"Pfft whatever. You know kid I've been a Sannin for years I really don't need to fight you seriously," Tsunade mocked.

"Keep telling yourself that. It will make me smacking you all the sweeter," Naruto replied.

"One finger," Tsunade held up the index finger of her right hand, "that's all I'll need." Naruto growled and reached into his thigh pouch subtly. He quickly cut his finger and wiped blood on the first two shuriken that he could before throwing his arm out.

"Need this!" The shuriken spun forward and Tsunade scoffed as she moved to the side. The throwing stars stuck behind her and Naruto rushed forward with a kunai in hand. He stabbed forward but Tsunade ducked under quickly and poked the boy's wrist eliciting a startled cry. Naruto dropped his kunai and the Sannin grabbed it before quickly spinning it in a reverse grip. She swiped up and knocked off the boy's headband while also letting go of the kunai.

"Shit!" Naruto pushed his head back and was startled to see a hand in his face. The woman smirked before flicking her finger forward and sending Naruto flying away. He tumbled on the ground before pushing himself back up. 'Damn that hurt. And she only used one finger? This lady is strong...' There was a thunk and Naruto saw his kunai land in front of him while his headband clanged a few feet away. 'Well she's still in front of my shuriken but one should always have a back up plan,' Naruto thought and grabbed his kunai. He quickly pricked his finger and swiped some blood on it before anyone could see and held it in front of him.

"Before you pass out I just want to ask something," Tsunade called over.

"What?"

"Why does the name Hokage mean so much to you?"

"Because," Naruto started, "the title of Hokage is more than just a name. It is hope and it is light. People look to the Hokage for strength. And that is why becoming Hokage is my dream!" Tsunade recoiled in shock and looked down in sadness.

'Nawaki...Dan...' Naruto noticed the woman's faltering and grinned.

'An opening!' He switched his kunai to his left and held his other hand out. 'Come on. Concentrate. Concentrate!' To the two women's shock a mass of chakra started to swirl around Naruto's palm. Jiraiya watched and shook his head.

'He's close but still not there yet.' Naruto compressed as much chakra as he could before rushing forward. Tsunade looked in awe at such a young boy wielding the incomplete form of such a powerful technique. Even if it was incomplete, it could still hurt. She jumped backwards then quickly slammed her finger on the ground and created a fissure that sent Naruto tripping forward. The crack in the ground had also sent Naruto's shuriken tumbling down, much to the boy's displeasure.

"Whoa, whoa!" The disruption in Naruto's concentration made his jutsu falter and dissipate, but Naruto wasn't done yet. Before he fell Naruto launched the kunai in his hand towards Tsunade.

"Tch, a last ditch effort? Something of this level is nothing," Tsunade said as she tilted her head to the side letting the kunai pass by harmlessly. Naruto grinned as he fell back and that grin made the Sannin worry. Naruto fazed out in a haze of red and appeared behind Tsunade where his kunai was and pulled back his arm.

"W-what?!" Tsunade yelled in shock. The kid was in front of her one second and then suddenly she sensed him behind her. It was instant! Not even a second in between!

"Take this!" Naruto roared. He threw his fist out but was shocked beyond belief when Tsunade spun around so fast she was a blur and faced him. She grabbed his fist and threw him like a rag doll across the street. Naruto bounced off the dirt like pebble skipping across a pond before stopping and making a trench in the road. His legs pointed upwards and twitched every so often.

'What the hell was that!? I had to actually use a majority of my speed to counter! If the kid was faster he may have gotten a hit in...' Tsunade thought as she surveyed Naruto as he pulled himself up with a groan. 'Plus, how is that brat even able to pull himself up?'

"What ran over me?" Naruto moaned in pain. This lady was a beast. Even after he pulled out Blood-line she was able to counter him. How?

"You alright there gaki?" Jiraiya called out.

"Fan-frikkin-tastic..." Jiraiya chuckled and looked at Tsunade who was giving him a harsh glare.

"Jiraiya..." She growled. Jiraiya gulped. This didn't look good. "What in your right mind told you to teach the kid _Rasengan_? Only you and the Yondaime are able to use that jutsu. Don't try and do something crazy!" Naruto finally pushed his body up with the help of a worried Shizune and looked up at the mention of the jutsu he was using.

'Rasengan? Sounds familiar.'

"Well I am his master," Jiraiya replied. "I thought it would be a good idea to teach the kid something. I mean who wouldn't want to learn the jutsu that the Fourth created?"

"He'll never be able to do it. Plus, what the fuck was that last move? What are you teaching him?" Before Jiraiya could say something Naruto chimed in.

"That's mine. Ero-Sennin didn't teach that to me," Naruto said as he slowly pushed himself up and hobbled back. Shizune looked worriedly at the young boy. Tsunade snorted at Naruto's nickname for Jiraiya before looking the Genin over.

"That probably explains why I've never seen this idiot teammate of mine use something like that," Tsunade said as she pointed to a pouting Jiraiya.

"I would hope not. It is special to me. But on another note. You," Naruto pointed to Jiraiya, "you're teaching me a technique created by the Yondaime?" Jiraiya nodded.

"Yup. The Rasengan took him two years to create," the man stated. Naruto scratched his head.

"Damn no wonder the technique is so hard. But if he could do it then there is no doubt I can learn it!" Naruto said with vigor. That is, before he let out a moan of pain.

"Whatever kid. You'll never learn that move. And besides no one answered my question about what the brat did at the end," Tsunade said.

"Yeah, yeah. You really don't need to know," Naruto drawled. "And besides who says I can't learn it. I almost smashed it into your face!" Tsunade growled before smirking.

"Oh yeah you think so? How 'bout a little bet then?" Shizune gasped and was about to speak but Tsunade held up her hand. "I bet you won't be able to learn the Rasengan by the end of this month. If you do I'll give you this back," she held up a frog shaped wallet eliciting a cry of _Gama-chan!_ from Naruto. "And I'll agree that the Hokage name isn't for fools."

"Bah what an easy bet. That's like two weeks. And if I lose?"

"This money is mine, you have to tell me what that disappearing trick you did was, and you must give up on becoming Hokage!" Tsunade declared. Naruto froze in shock. That was a very steep wager. But hey he was almost done with the jutsu. Hell he could be done with it in a week. And Naruto decided to voice his thoughts.

"You're on. In fact I can finish the Rasengan in a week!"

"Oh really now? Well kid if you can do that I'll even throw in my necklace," Tsunade said as she pulled a bright green jewel from her shirt. Naruto gave it a blank stare and shrugged.

"Whatever. I'm not really into jewelry but I'll still take it."

"You idiot. That's the Shodaime's necklace you could sell it and buy villages for that money and still have some left over," Jiraiya said. Naruto blanched at that. Now that was a lot of money. Naruto could live happily with that. Though the idea of owning something of the former Hokage's was quite an honor. Grinning the boy turned and started to walk away.

"Where you going kid?"

"Sleep. Then training."

Xxx

Naruto pointed at the tree in front of him then made a motion with his thumb going over his throat. The universal sign of "You're dead". It was three days since the wager. Naruto was not going to stop training till he was able to form that damn ball of spiraling death. He held up his right hand and focused. Bright blue chakra started to swirl around his hand and compressed itself into a sphere. However, trails of chakra still spun around showing that not all of it had been concentrated. Naruto growled and focused harder as he ran at the tree. More and more chakra trails were compressed and the ball became compact.

"_Rasengan!_" Naruto roared as he slammed the jutsu into the tree. The technique started to grind into the bark and Naruto felt hope. Suddenly, the sphere fluctuated and he was blown backwards. Naruto slid across the ground and groaned in a mixture of pain and frustration. He had almost had it that time.

"You are making amazing progress Naruto-kun." Naruto turned to the source of the voice and saw Shizune shuffling into the clearing. Her eyes scanned the various craters and trenches that were the result of the boy's technique. "But you shouldn't push yourself."

"Can't stop Shizune-chan. I've gotta finish this jutsu and win that bet!" Naruto declared before he sighed. "But I just can't get it to compress all the way. It's frustrating as hell." Shizune walked over to Naruto and sat down. Her hands were clenched in worry and Naruto could see that something was on her mind.

"What's wrong?" Shizune twitched slightly before sighing.

"Naruto-kun I beg of you, please forfeit this bet," Naruto looked at her blankly and shook his head. He had expected this. "Please don't misunderstand though. This has nothing to do with how competent a ninja you are. This has to do with Tsunade-sama's past. You see she lost two of the most important people in her life," Shizune stated.

"What do you mean? Everyone has lost people. Why does her loss make it so different."

"Because to my master, their deaths were her fault." Naruto blinked rapidly at that. This sounded complicated.

"Go on," Naruto sighed. And Shizune started her tale. From Tsunade's brother and his short life to Shizune's very own uncle and his demise. The woman recounted all of her adventures with the Sannin. She told the boy of their constant running from debt collectors. And finally the curse of the necklace. Naruto now understood why Shizune was so adamant about Naruto giving up. To the dark haired woman if Naruto were to succeed he would die.

"So please Naruto-kun just give up. This will only end badly," Shizune pleaded. Naruto looked at Shizune before standing up. He took out a shuriken and pricked his finger before smearing it with his blood.

"I want to show you something," Naruto said as he tossed the weapon at the tree he was practicing on. The weapon hit the tree with a _thunk_ and Naruto was next to it in a flicker of red mist. Shizune gasped and stared.

"That's the technique you used against Tsunade-sama. It was so fast! What is it?" Shizune asked.

"Before I tell you I want you to know a few things about who I am. There is no doubt you know what I carry seeing as how you were in Konoha during the Kyuubi's attack," Shizune nodded in confirmation. She knew the boy was a Jinchuriki. "Most of my life was spent being ignored and basically thought of as a menace. People ignored me. I was nothing to them. I couldn't really get basic needs because to them I didn't exist. I could only thank the Sisters at the Orphanage for taking care of me for the first seven years of my life. But, there were many kids. They couldn't take care of all the kids and couldn't watch everyone at all times. I spent most of my childhood scrounging for food. When I was in the Academy my learning was stunted by many teachers. They taught me wrong and I know now many of them did so in hopes I would die," Naruto spoke. Shizune could only gape as Naruto continued.

"On the day of Genin exam I failed. However, a sensei of mine who I thought had my best interest at heart tricked me. I did a very bad thing. Not only that but on that night I learned of my burden and was almost killed by this sensei. If it wasn't for another sensei of mine I would be dead. He protected me and showed me that he truly cared. From then on I vowed to protect people as much as I could. But I also learned of my father," it was here that Shizune became confused. "My skill comes from my dad. I don't know how but I was given this ability. It is similar to the _Hiraishin no jutsu_ if you haven't figured it out. It is a bloodline, my bloodline, given to me by father. I inherited my kekkei genkai from the Yondaime Hokage." It was here that Shizune did gasp. This boy was the Yondaime's child?! Well now that she really looked at him she could immediately see the resemblance. How did no one notice that?

"S-so that ability? That is a bloodline?" Naruto nodded as he walked back to sit next to Shizune.

"I didn't used to use it because of my own issues. What I'm trying to say is that everyone has things that cause them pain. It took my teammates almost dying for me to get over my problems with my father. I just hope it won't come to that point for Baa-chan," Naruto said. Shizune gave Naruto an amazed look before giggling.

"You better not let Tsunade-sama hear you call her that," Naruto laughed loudly.

"I'm not going to give up Shizune-chan. I have to complete this jutsu. Not just for the bet but for me. My dad used this jutsu and I feel like I need to be able to use it. So I'm doing this for me too," Shizune nodded.

"Um Naruto-kun I have a question."

"Mhmm."

"Well you have a bloodline right?"

"Yup. The only one of its kind," Naruto grinned. "I call it..._Blood-line_!" Shizune gave the boy a deadpan expression. "What?"

"You named your bloodline...bloodline?"

"No, no. Not bloodline, but Blood-line," Naruto corrected. The woman shook her head not hearing the difference. It didn't matter though. The boy's ability was one of the strongest she had ever seen. It was only thanks to her master's skill that she was able to counter the Genin.

"Hey Shizune-chan you're a ninja right?" Naruto asked. "How long have you been a ninja? What rank are you? Do you have any cool jutsu?" The blonde fired off questions at the girl making her back up.

"Hold it, hold it. One question at a time Naruto-kun. Well yes I am a ninja and according to the Konoha ranking system I would be a Jounin." Naruto whistled at that. "As far as special abilities ummm," it was here that Shizune had to think. "I am a medical ninja so basically I know a lot about your body," Shizune said as simply as she could.

"What about abilities. Do you have a kekkei genkai?" Shizune blushed.

"Well it's not really a bloodline but I do have a special skill that's not normally seen in Hi no Kuni," Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Ehhh that's so cool! You must super awesome!" Shizune blushed a little more but smiled.

"It's not all that special. Because I am a medical ninja that means I know a lot about the body and chemicals. So using that I'm able to do specific things." Naruto waited for her to explain but Shizune remained silent after that.

"Like?" The black haired woman giggled slightly.

"Why so curious Naruto-kun?" Naruto blushed in embarrassment and scratched his head.

"Uh I mean you don't have to tell. It's just it has been awhile since I really just sat down and talked to someone," Naruto said. "Not since my mission to Nami," the blonde's eyes glazed over and Shizune looked at the boy curiously. "But that seems like so long ago."

Shizune tapped Naruto and he twitched before looking at her. "I didn't mean to tease you Naruto-kun. It's just as a ninja, secrecy is vital for our line of work. I know you're a friend of Jiraiya-sama but all ninja have to have some secrets." Naruto nodded at that. Shinobi were supposed to be secret. So telling someone you just barely met all of your skills seemed like a stupid move now that the blonde thought about it. It was probably best that he not blab about how Blood-line worked. He already may have said too much about where it came from.

"Well I just wish I was as strong as you. It must have taken you a long time to be so strong, huh?" The woman nodded.

"Getting stronger is a process Naruto-kun. It takes time. As far as my special skill well that is an area in my ninja arts that I must work on like everything else. But because it is special and very rare where we are I have had to learn by trial and error mostly," it was here that the young medic reached into her robe and pulled out a small notebook. "So what I do is write a journal on my abilities. I write about everything, how I feel when I use them, new skills, and pretty much everything. Also, thanks to my travels I've gained some valuable experience."

Naruto gave the notebook a curious look. It seemed like a fairly normal journal and the blonde saw the word "_Doku_" scrawled on the front. 'Doku? Huh so whatever she does is poisonous,' Naruto thought with a gulp. The journal itself, however, made Naruto really curious. He didn't have a lot of formal training with Blood-line. Most of it was from the Sandaime. And a lot of that wasn't really training.

"Shizune-chan does the journal help?" The girl nodded.

"Greatly. It helps me understand my progress on many things while also letting me catalogue my adventures."

"Catalogue?"

"Mmm that means keep track of things," Naruto made an oh sound and looked at the notebook before looking up at the sky. Shizune placed her journal away and sat quietly with the boy.

"What's it like?"

"What is what like Naruto-kun?"

"Traveling. Like how fun must it have been to go everywhere," Naruto said. "You must have seen so many amazing things! I mean I've always wanted to travel. I've always wanted to go out and see what is out there." Naruto grinned at Shizune who tilted her head cutely. "Can you tell me about it?"

Shizune looked at the boy and smiled. He was so curious. "Will you tell me about Konoha? I haven't been there in so long. I want to know it anything changed."

"Deal!" And so the two of them talked. They sat in that clearing for hours just trading stories. Naruto would sit in rapt attention as Shizune described all the places in the Elemental Countries and asked an occasional question. And Naruto would regal great stories of all his pranks and how the village looked. He would tell her all his schemes and how he would cause such chaos for some of the higher ranked ninja that Shizune couldn't help laughing.

As they talked they didn't notice two sets of eyes staring at them. One holding pride and the other regret. One proud of his student and the other remorseful for what she had put her apprentice and longest friend through.

'Forgive me Shizune. Maybe it is time we do go back.'

Xxx

**AN: I'm sorry if any of you guys are a bit upset with Naruto revealing his heritage to Shizune. But there are reasons for that. Plus I mean its Shizune, she is like the nicest girl to Naruto in the series other than Ayame in the beginning. Anyways hope you all like the new installment of Blood-line.**


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